'Been working most of the day on something we're not at liberty to blog about yet. Without revealing its purpose, we'll provocatively quote from the document we wrote this morning:

I would like to offer the perspective of a photographer/writer/blogger who has lived diagonally across the street from this evocative and ever-changing landscape for nearly 30 years. Always in search of "beauty in unexpected places," I've found [the working waterfront across the street] to be a motherlode of visually stunning and thought-provoking imagery through the seasons, grist for my photographic eye and politically philosophical tongue.

"Thinking about the demographics of my neighborhood, once dominated by Poles but now heavily Latino, I'm intrigued with the presence of a significant number of Muslims, who come together to worship on Fridays in the local Roca and then disperse mysteriously to their veiled -- to me -- lives in this city that has seen wave after wave of immigrants working their way on up," we wrote:

How might . . . [local] cultural- and/or ethnic-themed seasonal events . . . enhance the lives of such newcomers, encouraging them to join the mainstream of their adopted land?

In my time across the bridge from you, I learned more to worry about the Latin gang problem (apparently there've been more than a couple recent machete attacks - hallmarks of MS-13) than the Maghreb problem in that neck of the woods. That said, I've always wondered why no one's ever done an investigation of al-qaida activity in the Wood Island/Orient Heights area of East Boston.

Now you've got me scared, Be. Ever since our Chelsea vet closed up shop and went into partnership with a vet in the next town, we take Tiny and the Babe right into the Orient Heights area for their checkups.

Orient Heights is wicked Catholic - nothing to worry about. The Maghrebins in the neighborhood are pretty quiet, and are not going to go after you largely because you're clearly anglo...it's a combination of politesse, knowledge that they're largely not legal, and takkiya. The illegal latin-types, on the other hand, are the ones you've got to watch out for, as they're brutes. I've not blogged about that, because whenever I did, I was treated with spam from the local blog aggregator regarding my racist tendencies. (I'm not: I speak both Spanish and Portuguese)

Anyway - don't worry about your trip to the vet - you'll be safe. And the best you can do (I do the same thing on my commutes to and from work) is continue to smile: it's a beautiful bit of sunshine that radiates and reflects off the others you chose to give it to.